Saturday, January 8, 2011

Since school started again last week, kids have been coming by my office to show me their new toys. So many cool things they didn't have when I was a kid.

I think it's absolutely great that so many of you parents gave your kids these new "spy camera" toys that can see in the dark and take pictures around corners and other stuff. It certainly gets their imaginations going. All last week I saw blurry shots of carpet, startled dogs, and sleeping siblings.

But my favorite were the ones I saw of Mrs. Claus wearing a Santa hat while riding St. Nick. Obviously, you guys were so involved that Junior had plenty of time to focus properly and get a few good pics. He also had a 10 second video clip, with sound.

Anyway, since they don't teach you how to handle these situations in school nurse class, I asked him to delete the files and not do that again. I told him to ask you guys if he had any questions about what you were doing. You're his parents, not me.

I also recommend that you guys learn to lock your bedroom door before playing "hide the yule log."

Hah, I walked in on my parents once. I absolutely do not need pictures or video (with sound none the less) to remember that experience for the rest of my life. I'm 34 and I still cant look them in the eye...

And that is why bedrooms have doors that lock. When we were stuck for several months in military housing that lacked locking interior doors AND had a four and five year old living in said dwelling with us, we re-arranged the furniture so that we could readily block the inswing door with a heavy nightstand.

Nurse Grumpy- O.M.G! I would have never had the ability to keep a straight face in that situation. Major kudos for you and your composure. Also- I hope that you ( or someone else in authority) made a follow-up phone call to the parents involved. Somehow- I can't see this message getting back to the parents via "Jr. Sherlock" without a great deal of editing, if at all. And I'm sure no one would like it if there is a sequel......

Kids! LOL! I always told my parents at Curriculum Night that I wouldn't believe 50% of what their child tells me happens at home if they didn't believe 50% of what their child tells them what happens at school. They laugh, I laugh, and everything works out fine. This plan saves parents a lot of embarrassment. I know more than I should about parents, older siblings and grandparents. One of the best stories was when a second grade boy came to school with a box of condoms. By the time the students came into the classroom, he had already passed them around. After I collected them all, and had a heart attack; I told them we will discuss it at 10:00 (I needed some time to compose myself). I called the parent, and asked her if she could run by school ASAP that it wasn't an emergency but something she needed to pick-up, NOW! OMG, I thought she was going to fall over. She apologized profusely, stuffed them in her pocked and started to cry. I assured her it was nothing compared to what I have dealt with in the past and reiterated why I have to 50/50 rule. Nobody was angry, nobody got in trouble. However, I had to explain to the rest of the class what those "things" were (in second grade words). It went fine, and nobody called to complain how the situation was handled. The child's mother was never the same again. The joys of teaching. That was harder than all the years I taught 5th grade sex education. Thanks for the laugh, Nurse Grumpy.

Very funny! Teachers get all kinds of stuff brought in from home - a colleague once had a boy who wanted to show a "pink rocket" he found at home. He told her it was broken because it just sat and buzzed but didn't take off. She still gets tears in her eyes when telling that one... One of my girls brought in family photos and handed them around before I caught on (first year teacher) There was Mom & Dad with little girl posed to cover up various parts of the parents' naked bodies...

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